Why is Mounted Thranduil riding a horse? He rides an elk in the movies. Seems like a missed chance for a nice unique mini.I remember the old days when it seemed like the license was so strict that if the mini wasn't as it appeared directly in a scene from the movies, it couldn't be released.

Hasn't the story been with many models, that there was something in the concept art, they made the model after it and then there was a last minute change in the movie production. Now that the Elk has a profile there will be probably a model for it later on.

New Line can hardly enforce the license if it's the movie production team that's to blame - the first time the sculptors saw Thranduil on an elk was when they went to the cinema. As said, there will be a model for it fairly soon though.